To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases referred to the Court of Appeal under section 17 (1)(a) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 were heard before a jury.

In all cases referred by the Home Secretary to the Court of Appeal under section 17(1)(a) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968, there will have been a hearing before a jury at the original trial. Once a case has been referred under this section, it is for the Court of Appeal to decide how the matter should proceed, but I understand that in one such case a re-trial was ordered by the Court of Appeal and that this was heard before a jury.